Mary, Mary (1963) User Reviews

Debbie, Debbie...

[jhkp · 5/10 · 28 October 2012]

This is a version of the very long running (1,500+ performances) Broadway comedy by Jean Kerr, wife of New York Times theater critic Walter Kerr and author of the novel, Please Don't Eat The Daisies.

It would have been a much better film if Debbie Reynolds been given better (or any) direction.

Debbie was sometimes not adept at playing it real, there was sometimes a sense that she was making an effort. But at her best, she was spontaneous and delightful - especially in her earlier efforts like Singin' In The Rain, Athena, Give A Girl A Break, I Love Melvin, etc.

Take a look at Debbie in Susan Slept Here (written and directed by Frank Tashlin) if you don't think she could be real, believable, touching, funny, and everything else she is supposed to be here, and isn't. There's a reason she became a bigger star than many of the MGM girls she originally appeared in support of - and guys, for that matter. Even when she isn't too good (as in this film) it's obvious that she has star power. Imagine a film starring the other four leads and no Debbie.

The trouble here is that, rather than relying on her own vocal inflections, and her proved ability to deliver comic dialogue, she gives an imitation of Barbara Bel Geddes (the original star of the Broadway show)! I don't know whose idea this was, but it wasn't a good one.

It's a decent romantic comedy that has a lot of pretty good jokes about the contemporary fads and foibles of the day. The action really doesn't leave the apartment set. The set and costumes are in deliberately neutral tones, like they were designed to be shot in black and white. (The brightest colors are in the title sequence.) Like Debbie's performance, the stylized color scheme serves to distance us from the story, since it encourages us not to forget we're watching something unreal. The whole thing is shot at some distance from the actors - though this seems to have been Mervyn LeRoy's later style, in general. This also hampers involvement.

The performances of Barry Nelson and Michael Rennie - the original Broadway stars - as well as Hiram Sherman, who took over on Broadway from John Cromwell, the actor and director ("Since You Went Away"), are quite good, and Diane MacBain is charming.

Debbie taxes Barry greatly

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 6 September 2017]

Although Mary Mary could have used a bit of editing, it's about a half hour too long in its running time, the wit of Jean Kerr's Broadway hit is kept over for the film version. The major player cast of five starts running on fumes at the 3/4 pole.

Playwright Jean Kerr was married to Walter Kerr the New York Herald Tribune drama critic and their married life was told in Please Don't Eat The Daisies. What can be better than a writer married to a critic. You can always get expert help to smooth over the rough spots. And you are guaranteed a good review in the Herald Tribune.

Mary Mary hadn't finished its Broadway run of 1564 performances when it was filmed and released. Barry Nelson who repeats his role from Broadway is a publisher who has divorced his first wife and about to marry rich debutante Diane McBain. He may be divorced in the eyes of God and the divorce court, but getting untangled tax wise is another matter. He's in a huddle with his accountant Hiram Sherman who took the liberty of inviting ex-wife Debbie Reynolds for help in separating their finances and figuring out the proper deductions.

Also arriving is Hollywood actor Michael Rennie who's taken an interest in Debbie. Nothing like that to get the ex-husband jealous even though he's the publisher of Rennie's spicy memoirs. I think Rennie is somewhat based on the late Errol Flynn. Certainly his memoirs might also have been called My Wicked Wicked Ways. Rennie also repeats his role from Broadway.

Mervyn LeRoy gets the best he can from his cast and certainly no complaints here about replacing Barbara Bel Geddes from Broadway with Debbie Reynolds for some box office insurance. Debbie is at her perkiest and matches wits with the rest of the cast including her rival McBain.

Though it's not mentioned it's no accident that Nelson is ready to marry McBain who comes off like a rich younger version of Debbie Reynolds. Might have been nice to have a musical number for Debbie in the film.

Not a great film, but Mary Mary is good version of an early 60s Broadway hit.

Debbie? Plain?

[merridew-2 · 6/10 · 9 August 2018]

The merit of this film is that it preserves for posterity one of Broadway's longest running comedies, with only minimal changes from the stage version. That is not an insubstantial contribution, and the movie deserves credit for letting us experience much of what 1,572 Broadway audiences witnessed.

That said, there is something impenetrable about watching Debbie Reynolds looking positively gorgeous as she tells Michael Rennie of the trials and tribulations of being a "plain" girl and woman. The part of Mary was written for Barbara Bel Geddes, who fit that dialogue perfectly (see her Midge in "Vertigo"). Debbie, on the other hand, was simply too radiant to give credibility to a character who supposedly compensated for insecurity about her looks with unceasing wit.

Debbie does Warner Brothers!

[gregcouture · 16 May 2003]

Jean Kerr, whose husband, Walter, was a preeminent New York theater critic, enjoyed quite a success on Broadway with the play on which Richard L. Breen's tidy little script is based. (Jean had previously had a big best-seller with her "Please Don't Eat the Daisies!", a highly fictionalized tale of her married life, filmed at M-G-M in 1960, starring Doris Day and, in my view, a miscast David Niven. M-G-M's coffers enjoyed a handsome refilling when that audience-pleaser rang boxoffice bells.) It was said that a negative word from Mr. Kerr sounded the death knell for a play that had made its way to the Great White Way, and a glowing review under his byline was jubilantly good news for a show's backers. He, no doubt, passed on reviewing "Mary, Mary" when it came to Broadway, but his wife's sophisticated, for its day, comedy-of-manners didn't need his praise.

When Warner Brothers gave Mervyn LeRoy the directorial reigns on their Burbank soundstages, Debbie Reynolds was awarded the title role, co-starring with Barry Nelson who had appeared in the stage version. It was always the way, when the studio system still held sway, that the obvious and only choice was a bonafide Hollywood movie star to headline a project such as this, and so the very appealing Barbara Bel Geddes, who had played Mary McKellaway on the stage to excellent notices, was not to repeat her role before the Technicolor cameras. Debbie, as she had in her previous M-G-M starring roles, didn't disappoint, however, and she was ably supported by Mr. Nelson, the gorgeous Diane McBain, and, in a witty turn (and a departure from the usually more serious roles assigned to him), Michael Rennie.

An acquaintance of mine worked in the sound editing department at Warner Brothers when this was being filmed and he confided to me that Ms. Reynolds played an anxious visit to a screening/editing room during filming, somewhat concerned that her performance wouldn't strike just the right comical note. I seem to recall that she was reassured by that technician and his coworkers and the reviewers and the film's audiences were eventually in agreement.

Enjoyable...but also rather talky and stagey.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 12 July 2021]

"Mary, Mary" was a stage production before it was made into a film. And, as you watch the movie, it becomes obvious that it was a play due to the film's style, staginess and the talky manner of the script.

Barry Nelson and Debbie Reynolds star as a couple who have been divorced only a few months. And, already, Nelson's character has picked out wife #2! But when his old wife arrives, it becomes obvious that some of the old flame still flickers.

The film is mildly enjoyable but isn't better simply because of the speechifying and shrill nature of the script. It doesn't ruin it...but it does make it tough to love. Like? Sure...love....nope.

Hit Broadway show falls flat on the big screen...

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 4 March 2010]

Recently-divorced couple in New York City, he a book publisher and she a magazine column editor, are reunited for tax reasons and find that old spark still burning beneath the constant insults. Freely adapted from Jean Kerr's popular play, this trite material relies heavily on the dropping of famous names and places to help fill in the backgrounds of these otherwise-unreal characters (as soon as Debbie Reynolds enters, we learn that she shops at Schraff's and spends endless hours at Elizabeth Arden). This is the kind of 'cozy' movie wherein everybody has money and free time to spare, but no looming work schedule. Reynolds breathlessly keeps pace while seemingly channeling Bette Davis; it's not a bad performance, however the clucking, one-dimensional writing leaves Reynolds without the shape or the semblance of a real woman to play. The male suitors on hand (Barry Nelson as the former hubby and Michael Rennie as a movie idol) do what they can, though neither seems particularly well-suited to Debbie, and their constant back-and-forth verbal bouts are tiresome. The film is dizzyingly claustrophobic, while the few funny bits are almost buried by the plastic set-up and inert direction. ** from ****

feels like a play

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 7 August 2023]

Book publisher Bob McKellaway (Barry Nelson) is marrying Tiffany Richards (Diane McBain) next month. Oscar Nelson is working his dispute with the IRS over $6000. He has money issues. He's not helpful and Oscar has invited his ex-wife Mary (Debbie Reynolds) over. He's not happy with the surprise visit. Tiffany wants to meet his ex. Dirk Winsten comes over and sets his eyes on Mary.

This is a (comedy?) based on a Broadway play. Once they stay in the same apartment for half an hour, it starts feeling very much like a play. There is plenty of talking and I'm trying my best to find it funny. I don't know why people keep popping in and out of the scene. It keeps turning into a dialogue between two or three people. It's not until the end when the group gets together and that feels more natural. Bob and Mary's banter is mildly amusing or it has the form of being amusing. Bob's jealousy is a little funnier. Tiffany should be a funny airhead and definitely needs more screen time. I'm invested in Bob and Mary. If nothing else, I'm invested in Debbie Reynolds.

Mary, Mary-No More, No More **1/2

[edwagreen · 5/10 · 1 August 2012]

To me, Barry Nelson was always a bland actor. Perhaps, this was due to the parts he received. This movie proves that my feelings towards him were correct. Dick Van Dyke would have been so much better as the editor, who divorced his Mary, and then his lawyer brings her back to discuss a tax situation.

Debbie Reynolds is good here despite her sing-song voice. The real pleasant surprise here is Michael Rennie, in a comic role, as an actor living in Nelson's building who falls for Mary.

After a while, you really wonder why the two divorced and you obviously know what the ending of this film will bring.

The scenes are lengthy ones as they're confined to his apartment during a snowstorm. Leave it to snow to bring the characters together in films.

a forgotten pleasure -- a witty little romantic comedy

[rachelcarey · 8/10 · 2 June 2002]

I'm very fond of this film. Debbie Reynolds stars as a woman trying to settle the final details of her divorce from her husband -- a man she's separated from, but with whom she still has great chemistry. Their potential reconciliation gets both hampered and facilitated by the husband's new girlfriend, an attractive society girl, and by a handsome actor who takes a fancy to Debbie. In certain ways this is a slight movie -- like a play, it's all talk, not much action -- but the wit and charm of the actors make it a lot of fun. It's an intelligent, bubbly little romantic comedy; I'd recommend it to anyone who likes that genre.

Barry Nelson is great in a surprisingly unfunny stage hit

[mackjay2 · 5/10 · 4 July 2010]

"Mary, Mary" was a Broadway success, but it's a bit hard to see why in this film version. On screen, it comes across as a long sitcom episode. Almost all the dialog falls flat when it's clearly intended to be humorous, and the outcome is a classic 'foregone conclusion'. One problem is the casting of Debbie Reynolds. Not that she's usually a poor actress, but she seems much too stagy and artificial here, spouting out pseudo-poetic, 'insightful' lines like a newcomer hoping to get noticed. She just doesn't ring true. As her soon-to-be-ex husband's new fiancée, Diane McBain doesn't fare much better, but it's easy to imagine how she would have been in the lead role when she makes her surprising exit. The men are a little more convincing. Hiram Sherman seems really comfortable in his role as a classic example of the jaded New York lawyer. It's possible he was a carry-over from the stage production. Michael Rennie, while not quite having the requisite good looks for his role, also seems very suited to the aging movie star who naively thinks he may have found one last chance of happiness. The best performance comes from Barry Nelson as the pleasingly neurotic, slightly self-deluded Bob. Coming from the stage version, Nelson is clearly very suited to his part and he is more than charming, interesting and convincing enough for a viewer to care what happens to him. A disappointing comedy film, with a couple of fine performances and about five truly funny lines.

Highly underrated, intelligent and very witty comedy.

[tonybolger · 10/10 · 6 October 2006]

Yes, it is obviously based on a play. Director Leroy has made no attempt to open it up, but this adds to it's effectiveness. It concentrates on the characters and the very witty dialogue. It's greatest strength lies in the outstanding performance by Debbie Reynolds in the title role. It is unlike anything she had done before and combines intelligence, wit and an amazing vocal technique. She tosses off great one-liners with relish and proves an admirable partner for co-star Barry Nelson. He had been in the original Broadway cast, and brings his own brand of understated comic playing to the role. Michael Rennie has a lovely time, sending himself, (and Hollywood), up. Wit is sadly in short supply in today's comedy movies so it is a pleasure to see this beauty again. The play's author Jean Kerr, was reportedly very happy with with this adaptation. Thanks to Miss Reynolds and company, so should you. That is, if you like the adult, witty approach to comedy!

mary mary

[mossgrymk · 5/10 · 23 July 2021]

The kind of mirthless, Kennedy era sex romp that Pete and Trudy Campbell would chortle over.

A nearly perfect Broadway transfer

[eschetic · 9/10 · 3 June 2005]

At a (then) genuinely astounding 1,572 performances (March 8, 1961 - December 12, 1964 at the Helen Hayes and Morosco Theatres), Jean Kerr's MARY, MARY was one of the most successful boulevard comedies of all time. The all too seldom seen movie version is as nearly perfect a transfer from stage to screen as we ever had, preserving not only all the witty charm and stylish banter of the stage hit, but most of the sharp stage performances that made it a hit as well!

Of course, we know that charming Barry Nelson and suave Michael Rennie repeated their stage roles. Given his long list of screen roles as the perfect British detective, it's amazing John Cromwell didn't repeat his stage role as Oscar Nelson, the accountant who brings the formerly married but still fond Bob and Mary (Nelson and...we'll get to that) together to go over tax matters. Presumably Cromwell was busy, because the film makers went with his first stage replacement, Hiram Sherman (who did the role on Broadway from May 13 to September 1, 1963).

Diane McBain didn't do her role on Broadway, but was excellent as the deceptively pretty but self aware young thing Bob is currently dating.

The film's unappreciated coup sprang from the Hollywood gimmick of insisting on a MOVIE name to help with the box office. In this case it was the oft' over praised Debbie Reynolds, and she was just fine as the brittle but brilliant Mary.

What made it a "coup" was that Reynolds was a far better mimic than she was (based on Hollywood outings in things like THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN or BUNDLE OF JOY or her Broadway fumble in IRENE) actress. It wasn't until I saw Barbara Bel Geddes, the original Broadway Mary, years later in another Jean Kerr play on stage that I realized that what Reynolds had given us in this delightful film was Bel Geddes' original Broadway performance - very movement, gesture and vocal inflection - letter perfect!

An intimate, five character, wonderfully written comedy, and with "three and a half" of the Broadway cast. One might say "no wonder it worked so well," but also credit film producer/director Mervyn Leroy who got the appropriate screen performances (performances don't always transfer intact - stage star Stockard Channing, while fine in SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION, isn't nearly as effective on screen as she had been on stage with better direction) and Harry Stradling's perfect cinematography for never allowing the piece to seen static, confined or "stagey."

Thank heavens for films like this that once kept mature, literate audiences both young and old coming back to the movies all the time.Modern movie fans accustomed to expect nothing but action, titillation and pratt falls in a "comedy" may be amazed how good a film can be when dialogue matters - whether in a little gem like this or in lavish, big films like MOONSTRUCK or Shakespeare IN LOVE!

To quote Bob and Mary: "Mmmm. That's good coffee!"

Maybe not hip, but the dialogue sparkles.

[dandavis · 10/10 · 3 June 2002]

If the world is getting you down, try this movie for a break. Jean Kerr's smart dialogue is so bright, that the 60's setting does not detract from the enjoyment of this film. It is on my list of the ten films that I liked better than almost everyone else. If you like witty repartee, a really engaging romantic comedy, a view of mid-twentieth century urban life, and a pleasant experience, try out "Mary, Mary." The staginess of it was especially effective to me and gave me the sense of having seen these perfectly cast characters in the theater.

One Of My All Time FAVORITE MOVIES

[RAY-130 · 9/10 · 21 March 2010]

I saw this movie at its original release and loved it. I then saw it on TV several times in the 60's and 70's but not since. I came to realize that it was the story of me and my wife who I HAD YET TO MEET. In 1990 I become Involved with my wife and called her "Mary Mary" and was unable to show her the reason until now. A great play on film. I think this is Debbie's best film and loved Barry Nelson in it. A movie for any couple who bicker all the time but truly love each other.

Recommend it highly. Suggest it as therapy for the Bickersons and funny to all others including granddaughters. Still timely in 2010 as well as the sixties. Has the beauty of white porcelslen.

This movie is wonderful!

[thanifan · 18 July 2000]

I watched this film a number of months ago for the first time and have been watching for it to come back on since. Excellent movie. The story line is great and it really made me think that anything is possible. A+++

Mary, Mary Not-At-All-Contrary

[fshepinc · 9/10 · 1 October 2008]

I hadn't seen this movie for more than thirty years -until today. Thanks to the boards here I was able to find a copy on DVD-R. The acting is excellent, the dialogue brilliant. This really should be available on commercial DVD with a commentary from the surviving cast members -before it's too late.

My only complaint is that the color palate of the film is very muted -all grey, beige, and faun. Very chic for the time, I'm sure, but a bit dull today. Of course that may be partly due to the fact that I have a DVD-R made from another source. (BTW, it's an excellent source -no commercials or cuts.)

As another user already wrote, this is a film for grown ups. The jokes are fast and furious, but they are sophisticated. Only two pratfalls in the film, and nothing sexier than a chaste kiss. It's actually refreshing!

BTW, am I the only one who can't eat dried apricots without saying (if only to myself), "I thought they were ears?"

Mary Mary,Very well acted, good storyline.

[Lissalyn49 · 14 October 2006]

As a child who preferred to watch television by the hour, this & other old movies still hold my attention. The quick wit, the substance, never disappoints. The characters were well rounded, the cast drew you into the humanity of the mores of the time before the Beatles. Before America lea-pt into the more modern age of color and a loosening of morals. The quote I remember Barry Nelson uttering the morning after a night of too much drinking, "Now that's real coffee." The reason I found it funny is the fact he was referring to the cigarette he was smoking. The movie was fast paced with good continuity. It was the humor of the day--not crude--and it was swell.